Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Friday, November 12, 2021

"The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us"

When I wrote the post about the Biblical sources for "The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us," I also noticed some musical features.  The hymn is sung to the tune "Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche."  In Lutheran Worship, it's in 6/4, but in The Lutheran Service Book, it's in 6/8 (both are in G major).  I'm going to use the notation in 6/4, although I found features to note in both hymnals (it seems that LSB has a different translation for verses two through four).

Here's the first phrase:


In Lutheran Worship, the second verse begins with the line "Then, oh, what jubilation."  "Jubilation" is sung with a melisma (A C B A B A), musically giving a sense of that ebullience.  The third verse begins with the line "Then Christ, his glory sharing."  Here, "sharing" is sung with a melisma (B A B A), and because the word is spread across multiple notes, there's a sense of its meaning.

Here's the third musical phrase:


In Lutheran Worship, the text here in the fourth verse is "New song will fill the ocean."  "Ocean" is sung with a melisma (F# E F# D), giving a sense of the abundance of being "fill[ed]."

In The Lutheran Service Book, the text here in the fourth verse is "With hearts and lips forever" (the sentiment is continued into the next line:  "We shall in God rejoice").  "Forever" is sung with a melisma (A F# E F# D), giving a sense of duration.